Gundam Build Fighters : The Ariem Knights
by VoyeurTheNinja
Summary: As the next Gunpla Battle World Championship draws near, a unlikely group of boys will band together to create a team that will rise through the ranks and encounter other opposing teams that stand in their way of getting into the World Championship. Comprised of a washed-up video game champion, a rich kid, an animal lover and a part-time chef, they will see the tears of time.
1. Chapter 1: The Washed-Up Gamer

It was in the late 21st century where Humanity's steps towards perfection in technology, economy and medicine, the dream of a perfect world was slowly coming true. For years, there were no wars, deaths or fighting. But, it still existed in one famous form: Gunpla Battle.

In the early years of the 21st century, before the popularity of Gundam and Gunpla soared through the skies like a red comet, a special particle known as the Plavsky Particle was created by a company known as PPSE. This special anti-particle has the immense ability to breath life into the plastic of the famous models of the multi-franchise, Gundam.

Championships were held to test the mantle of various people from all over the world such as America, Japan and Germany. These competitions tested the skills of the enlisted fighters in both fighting and building. Until the end of the 7th Championship, whereas the company, PPSE, had closed down with Gunpla Battle itself. Only when the company, Yajima Trading, bought and acquired the facilities of PPSE, the next Gunpla Battle World Championships had been revived. Years after this, the 13th World Championship came closer and closer.

But this year's tournament would be diffrent. This year, it had a special, once-every-3-years category where instead of a single unit fighting through many others to win the championship, groups and teams of 3-5 fighters will fight together in different arenas, with different rules, conditions and goals. In this category where every team must work and understand each other to gain the best results, they must fight, fight and fight until one team is left to be crowned the "Soldiers of Sorrow"!

* * *

It was only a few months ago, if he remembered correctly, that he entered the World Championship and tasted the bitter taste of defeat with his teammates. Even till now, the feeling of lost and defeat could still be felt in his chest, deep inside him. But this was not a Gunpla Battle Championship. No. He never had an interest in the game at all. Instead, he had entered a tournament for a semi-popular Massive-Multiplayer-Online-Battle-Arena game called The Crusade of Warriors, it had a large fan-base, but it was immensely out-shadowed by the extremely popular Gunpla Battle.

There was only one reason for his team's defeat: his teammates. They were not close, friendly or anything else in any other way. They were only in it to win for the sake of winning, and it ended up with half-hearted results that resulted in poor matches.

Lying down on a small rickety bed, surrounded by empty cup noodles and opened Cola bottles, a boy with black hair with blue highlights rested his head on a soft pillow, his ears covered with large blue headsets, and his glasses sitting next to his left-open computer. Ever since his defeat, he had been loitering around in his room, no motivation to go outside or at least open the curtains to let the sunlight in, and till this day, had been more interested in being alone.

The door to his room opened and his mother poked her head through the doorway, "Hyuuma, I'll be heading out to buy some groceries. Is there anything on your mind that you want to buy?"

"No, Mom," he replied dryly and sat up straight, taking off his large headsets. Aioi Hyuuma, as always, his hair was messy and he didn't seem to care about his unfixed clothes, "If there's anything I need, I'll get it myself."

"Of course, but, it's a sunny day today, so why don't you get some sunlight for a change?" she suggested before leaving with the door shut.

Hyuuma looked at the curtains and slowly opened them up, the light hurting his eyes for a moment before he got used to seeing it again. From the view on the 1st floor, he could see the rest of his town from here and thought to himself that maybe he should follow his mom's advice.

Changing into a pair of outside clothes, Hyuuma went down the stairs of his house with his glasses and headsets on. In the living room, he saw his father sitting on the couch with his little brother, Aioi Hayate, watching what seemed to be a live feed of Gunpla Battle. "Go, Guntank!" his little brother cheered, enthusiastic as ever.

What was so fun about Gunpla Battle? Hyuuma thought to himself and went inside the living room.

"Oh, Hyuuma," his father, a tall man who seemed to go to the gym a lot from the looks of his large arms, noticed him and smiled, "Finally got out of your room, huh?" he joked a little.

He wasn't counting, but Hyuuma had been staying in his room for at least 2 full days. While his parents knew he would eventually get sick off being in that room, getting some sunlight would be a good idea, he was getting hungry, too, "I'm heading out for a while, might be back around 6 or 7," Hyuuma went to the door and put on some sneakers.

"Heading to Londenion again? Here," his father went to him and tossed some cash, folding his arms, "Try not to get in trouble."

His son nodded and opened the door, "Right, Dad, see you later."

* * *

It had been a while since's been in this part of town again. From the shops, to the arcades, food stalls, pet shops, model shops and other places to be, Hyuuma stopped in front of a relatively big restaurant by the name of "Londenion", the place was both a family restaurant and a cyber cafe, and this is where he tended to be when he came to practice Crusade of Warriors with his team.

Well, until that day, at least. Looking around, the Londenion had seemed to have improved in its decor since he last came here.

Opening the glass double-doors while taking off his headsets, the place was somewhat packed with groups of friends and family. On his left, waiters went between the tables, serving people left and right while on Hyuuma's right, groups of friends hung out in the cyber cafe section. If he remembered correctly, there was an old bar downstairs, did they renovate it? He wondered.

Sitting at one of the tables in the corners, Hyuuma thought he could at least eat something before playing a few games at the cyber section. From his seat, he could see plenty of teenagers shouting in joy and anger as they played. He never acted so passionately like that before, to him, it looked immature and childish. Strangely, a few kids and teens with small brown bags attached to their waists walked into the restaurant. A waitress showed them to a flight of stairs that Hyuuma didn't notice until now, and he wondered just what was down there.

After ordering one plate of fried rice, he lied back in his seat and sighed.

"Aioi Hyuuma," a man spoke up from behind him.

Looking to his side, Hyuuma met face-to-face with the 36-year old owner of the Londenion. Mr. Noa, a man with short, dark green hair, he wore a pair of grey jeans and a similar shirt with black shoulders. The man was very well-known for keeping his workers disciplined, while at the same time, treating them like his own kids. Although his posture made him seem strict and uptight, the man was a very good at making moral decisions.

"So, it is you," Mr. Noa extended a hand and Hyuuma stood up to shake hands with the man after so long, "It's been a while since I've seen you around here."

Hyuuma laughed weakly, "Yeah, things have been going smooth around here, huh?"

"Under my command, this place will stand for years," Mr. Noa slightly boasted and looked across the restaurant that he owned and was kept clean by dedicated workers, "A few days after you left, business has been slowly rising. I even got enough money to get this place some new toys for kids to play with downstairs."

"What, a playground?" the boy guessed and Mr. Noa shook his head with a proud smile before stating.

"Gunpla Battle."

"Oh, uh, that's cool, too," Hyuuma sat down, his arms on the armrests, "Reels in a few more customers, right?"

"Doubles them, to be precise, " Noa chuckled and leaned against the wall as a waitress settled down the boy's food on the table, "The kids around this block have been coming here nonstop ever since I installed the Gunpla Battle system, and their passion is really noteworthy."

That explained those kids with the brown bags who went downstairs earlier. Must have been some kids with their plastic models inside their bags.

Taking up his spoon, Hyuuma took a mouthful of fried rice and nearly gasped as the overwhelming taste of the food amazed him, "W-Woah..."

"It's good, isn't it?" Mr. Noa piqued, "That was made by a new part-timer I recently hired. He's 16, just like you. Although his height tells otherwise," he laughed and Hyuuma did join a little, "Anyways, I'll have to get back to work. I have my duties to do."

Patting the boy on the shoulder, he went back into the kitchen to continue watching over the staff's progress.

* * *

After finishing his immensely-satisfying meal and paying for it, Hyuuma went over and sat at one of the computers in the corners before starting it up. It was only 1 PM, so he could at least stay here for at least 5-6 hours. Attaching his headsets into the computer and putting on his glasses, Hyuuma opened up the game menu and browsed the wide selection of games.

But one caught his eye, Crusade of Warriors. He was reluctant to play it, he swore to himself that he wouldn't touch that game anymore. After 10 full seconds of staying still, he clicked on it and logged into the game. Boy, did it feel strange to play this again, the only difference being the fact that his friend lists was completely empty as he had cut off all connections with his previous 'team-mates'. He didn't need them anyway, he always enjoyed being alone.

Hours later, he soon regretted logging in. For 4 hours, Hyuuma was left frustrated over multiple failed games due to either horrid teammates or lack of teamwork between the group. No matter what he did, they just wouldn't listen. He felt like kicking the computer in frustration, but instead took off his headsets and lied back in his seat, sighing. God, he needed something else to do in his spare time.

"Aioi? W-What are you doing here?" a girl's voice called to him. Hyuuma stood up and saw a one of the waitresses who he immediately recognized from her red hair that was tied into a ponytail and the abundant freckles on her cheeks.

"H-Hatsune?"

She looked at him and scanned Hyuuma's somewhat pale skin, "Geez, you haven't been getting much sunlight have you?"

"I.. Y-Yeah, it's nice to see you, too," he said with a bit of sarcasm..

Hatsune Yukari, an old friend he used to hangout with before he momentarily left Japan for the Crusade of Warriors Championship, the two were regulars when it came to the Londenion, Yukari had explained that during Hyuuma's leave, she signed up for a part-time job in the restaurant.

"Still sore from last year?" Yukari inquired as they talked over some drinks at the dining section.

"Yeah, I guess," Hyuuma placed his glasses on the table and wiped them with a napkin, "It's been a while at least, so I've been getting better."

"You sure?" Yukari doubted him, "You don't seem like it. I mean, that Championship was 3 months ago, you sure don't have anything else on your mind?"

"Nope. I am completely, positively free... I think," Hyuuma sighed and sipped his Cola, "I guess it's just not that easy to let go. You saw me, I've been coming here everyday to practice on that game for months, and for what? Defeat?"

Yukari sighed, "Well, at least you got yourself out of that room of yours. That's one step closer to letting it go, right?"

"I guess so," Hyuuma folded his arms and looked down on the table. And although she was concerned for the boy's mental state, Yukari had a job to do right now.

Standing up, she ran a hand through her hair, "Anyways, I gotta do my work or else Mr. Noa is gonna kill me."

"Sure, sure..."

Yukari frowned and then pointed to the flight of stairs that lead to the lower levels of the building, "If you want something to keep your mind distracted, why don't you head downstairs?"

Hyuuma could hear lots of excited shouting coming from down there. Reluctantly, he put on his glasses, got off his seat and sighed in defeat, "If it distracts me for one more hour before I leave..."

Suddenly, Yukari went behind him and gave a light tap on his behind to get him moving, "Come on, don't be so gloomy. Show me some ambition like you always did before," she gave a bright smile which made the boy do the same.

* * *

As he went down the flight of stairs, the noises of shouting and explosions grew louder and louder. Soon, it was almost like Hyuuma was in a different world, separated from the normal world like an alternate dimension. Inside holographic cockpits, teens and kids alike controlled plastic toys, battling on hexagonal tables that simulated a variety of different arenas and areas.

"J-Jesus Christ," he muttered at the sight.

The room was large, bigger than upstairs. A bar was located on the far end where most of the fighters could get a drink, on the right, there were tables where some of the kids were putting together their model kits, while in the middle of the room, four of the hexagonal tables were located as people were watching players duel each other with their plastic models. To Hyuuma's left, he did not see the large cabinets that displayed hundreds of different model kits.

But this did not make him feel any better at all. Why? Because he questioned the fact that why would people build plastic model kits just to have them destroyed, beaten or outright vaporized in these fights? It didn't make sense to him, at least in Crusade of Warriors the only thing you lost was your pride.

At the nearest table, the younger opposing player had his model kit shot in the chest with a red beam before it exploded into multiple pieces. The simulated field disappeared, the kid sighed in defeat as the surviving kit remained inert and the defeated one? In pieces. The older, more experienced player who won then laughed beside his friends before boasting about his model kit which he called the "Ahead Smultron" or something.

He never liked these kind of people. And this sight was laughable, what was so accomplishing about destroying someone else's toy, much less, someone younger and more inexperienced than you? Stepping forward, Hyuuma called out to the boy before his laughter become even more irritating than he could stand, "Hey, you, are you that insecure about your pride that you'd beat up a kid just to feel better?"

A few of the fighters took notice of him.

"Hey, listen to this guy!" one of the boy's friends laughed, "What's a nobody doing by calling us 'insecure' or whatever?"

The fighter that Hyuuma called out was at least a foot taller than him while boasting a shirt that read 'A-Laws', "Kid, don't you know who am I? I'm Jun Takamatsu, one of the ace Fighters in this part of town," the boy boasted while waving his Ahead Smultron.

"Wha-? Fighter?" Hyuuma cleaned his ear, "I have no idea what you just said. And I can't take you seriously when you're holding a toy like a weapon."

Jun's eye twitched in anger. Grabbing Hyuuma by the collar, Jun lifted him up and growled in his face, "Listen here, four-eyes, this is not a toy, this is a **model kit**, and if you wanna pick a fight with me, how about we do it here right now?"

Normally, Hyuuma would have backed down from this. But all the built-up stress from the past few months made him give a cocky smirk as he tightened his fists., "A blockhead like you would be the perfect candidate."

The other Fighters and Builders were too afraid to interject into this fight. If a fight broke out now, there'd be massive trouble for all of them. But even as things were getting ugly, they didn't have the guts to stop the two. Except for one man.

"Inside or outside, if anyone fights here, I'll have them be kicked out of the nearest door," a voice erupted from the stairs where, standing with his hands behind his back and chin up, Mr. Noa glared at the two boys and scanned the sight.

Suddenly, Jun dropped Hyuuma to the floor and bowed in unison with all the other Builders and Fighters, "Greetings, Captain Noa!" they all said with full respect as Hyuuma wondered what the Heck was going on here.

Walking from behind Mr. Noa, Yukari went up to the boy on the floor and pulled him to his feet, picking up his glasses that fell to the floor as well, "You alright?"

"I've been through worse," he shrugged.

"What's going on here, Jun?" Mr. Noa scolded the Fighter as his two friends stood in the background, "I told you to stop harassing the other customers, didn't I?"

"B-But, Sir, this kid.. he had the nerve to-"

"No 'buts', Ensign, if you want to pick a fight, then do it like how everyone does it here," Noa looked at the other fighters, Yukari, then Hyuuma, before stating in an utmost serious tone, "Gunpla Battle."


	2. Chapter 2: Wings & Blades

"Seriously? Against someone who's gunning for the World Champs?"

"This game is gonna be quick."

"Jun's Ahead is pretty fast..."

The builders and Fighters whispered among each other and Hyuuma fixed his collar, asking, "Mr. Noa, what are you talking about?"

"In the Londenion, we usually settle any squabbles with each other by having a single match of Gunpla Battle," Noa explained and gestured to Jun, who was glaring at Hyuuma, "Since Jun and you here seem to have a problem with each other, wouldn't it be a good idea to settle it through a man's challenge?"

"I agree with the Captain!" Jun exclaimed loudly until Noa looked back at him which piped him down again.

Noa then gave an order to Yukari, "Get me guest-type GP Base."

"Yes, Sir," she bowed and headed upstairs. Now it was Hyuuma's turn to talk, and the boy had no idea what was going on whatsoever.

"Mr. Noa, y-you can't be serious," Hyuuma protested and fixed his glasses, "I don't have any say in this? I don't even know how to play!"

"He's got a point," one of Jun's friends said and snickered, "We'd skewer him like a fish on a spear," the boy then laughed along with Jun and his other friend, earning an angry glare from Hyuuma.

"Oh, it looks like he really wants to go at it," Jun grinned and cracked his knuckles together.

Before Hyuuma could shoot back an insult, Noa grabbed him by the arm and lead him over to the cabinets of model kits to talk in private. Letting him go, Noa folded his arms and the young boy looked down on the tiled floors, "What's with this all of a sudden?" he questioned, "Why am I being forced to play a kid's game?"

"Yukari told me about your situation, how you felt after last year," Noa explained in a soft tone, "To be frank, it was quite obvious, I saw it in your eyes this afternoon; you don't have quite the flare in them like you used to have before."

Hyuuma chuckled weakly and replied with a hint of sarcasm, "I guess I'm not that good in hiding, huh?"

"There's no doubt in that," the restaurant owner patted the boy on the shoulder and looked over to the model kits in the cabinet beside them, "But, you should learn to let things go. Acknowledge and learn from your mistakes, then move on, that's the privilege of being a man. And don't you think a new hobby will help you with doing that?"

Hyuuma opened his eyes wide and looked up at Mr. Noa. He was right, he needed to move on for good. But, looking over at the array of model kits beside him, would Gunpla Battle be the most suitable choice? Sighing, he answered, "I'll try."

"There's no 'try'. You either do it or don't," Noa looked over his shoulder and saw Yukari coming down with some kind of device. It was colored in a metallic white with a large, black screen and a slot on the top area.

"Take this," Yukari handed it over to him.

"What's this?"

"It's called a GP Base," she explained, "You'll need this if you want to fight."

"That is," Noa interjected, "If you actually want to do this."

Hyuuma looked at his refection that was on the black, shiny screen. Tightening his grip on the device, he nodded, "I'll do it... but," he looked over to Jun and his friends, pointing a finger in them before declaring, "I'm taking all three of you on."

"E-Eh?" Yukari grabbed Hyuuma's arm and whispered to him, "You sure about this? I mean, you can just-"

"No. If I don't give it my all, I won't be able to move on," Hyuuma spoke sternly, "If I'm going to do this, it's all in."

"Then pick a model," Jun said, sitting on a stool with his friends, "We'll give you an hour of practice, I don't find it satisfying to skewer a pup that doesn't even know how to walk."

Noa took out a key from his belt and opened the cabinet nearest to Hyuuma. The boy scanned each of them, picking what looked the strongest and most appealing to him. Taking out one with a futuristic design, a green chest orb and seven swords, Noa whistled at the sight if it, "The GN-001 Gundam Exia, good choice."

Hyuuma went over to one of the hexagonal tables and opened it up to get use to the control schemes. As a quick learner in most activities, Hyuuma was good when it came to memorizing controls schemes and instructions inside and out. But this was completely different. Inside the holographic cockpit surrounding him, there were three screens, a set of sensors, number counts and two glowing orbs that were used for controlling the model kit. It looked intimidating, but Hyuuma didn't back down.

Nudging Yukari on the arm, Noa spoke to her, "He seems quite relaxed, don't you think?"

She nodded in agreement, "But against three of them, is this really a good idea?"

"If he wants to do it, let him," he scratched his chin, "Yukari, when is Shiro's break-time coming up?"

"In an hour, Sir."

"Good," Noa smiled.

* * *

After an hour of rigorous practice and fiddling with the controls, Jun stood up and declared that it was time to start. Some of the fighters watched from the bar, even those that were playing had stopped to watch the fight with a few of the Builders. It was time, and even if Hyuuma had been constantly struggling, he was determined to push on.

Noa and Yukari sat with the a small audience as the four boys gathered around on table, Hyuuma on one side, Jun and his pals on the other.

"**Please set your GP Base**," the computerized voice with a rough accent spoke up and the four attached their bases to the table's small launch platforms, displaying the name of the Builder, Fighter, model kit type and the name the Builder/Fighter had given it, "**Beginning Plavsky Particle Dispersal**," bright blue particles then began to be gathered up on the table by the small blue orbs built into the table. As this was the first time Hyuuma had been in a match, the sight was utterly beautiful, soon, a forest of pink sakura trees had been laid out as a battlefield, "**Field 3, Forest. Please set your Gunpla**."

"Let's do this boys!" Jun slammed his model kit onto the launchpad with his friends in unison Al, three kits sported a red and black color scheme with some gold for his as it was armed with a standard rifle and shield, while the other two aptly-named 'GN-X's held a sniper rifle, and the other a large lance with built-in machine guns

"**Battle Start****."**

The quad-eyes of the three suits flashed with life after a wave of light had encompassed them, Jun grabbed his control orbs and screamed out his next words, "Sakomoto Jun, Ahead Smultron, launching!" the Ahead and the 2 GN-Xs were shot into the field by a catapult and they then hid in the trees.

Hyuuma, remembering how most pilots do this, tried following them to get into the mood, "Aioi Hyuuma, Gundam Exia, heading out!"

Wobbling as it landed, the Gundam Exia floated down to flat ground, carried by green particles generated from a cone on its back. Pink sakura leaves brushed on its red, white and blue armor as it was armed with 2 beam sabers behind the shoulders, 2 beam daggers on the back skirt, a long and short sword on its hips and an enormous blade attached to the bottom of the pistol/shield it held on its right arm.

Clicking on the right control orb, he randomly picked the GN long and short swords, holding the physical blades steady, "Where are they?" it felt tense, even if it was just a battle of toys.

A shot from the tree on the left and it whizzed past the Exia's head, barely dodging and almost tripping. The Ahead Smultron came out of the trees, guns blazing with a readied beam saber. The Gundam Exia dodged past two more shots before clashing blades with the Ahead, trying to fight the large momentum it received from its powerful thurster pack.

"Remember this, kid, it's not about the quality of the models in the fight, it's about the skill and determination of their pilots!"

Hyuuma stepped to the side and let the red suit past so he could get a slice at the Ahead's powerful backpack, machine gun fire from a hidden GN-X in the trees then denied that chance and blew the swords out of the Gundam's hands, "D-Dammit!"

The Ahead turned around and fired a couple of beam rifle shots whilst creating some distance between the two, the Exia went into pursuit and switched to its GN pistol, firing wildly while constantly missing as he struggled to stay in the air, "Get back here!"

"Just a little closer..." Jun muttered.

"Hyuuma, stay back!" Yukari warned, but it was too late. Sniper shots from below took out the Exia's right arm completely and blew the leg by the knee, sending it to crash down into the trees below. A trap that was placed on the predicted crash course then activated and trapped the Exia in an electric net that stunned the Gundam completely.

"Move, damn it!" Hyuuma struggled with the controls.

"Andrew, Maxwell, serve him up!" Jun ordered and the two GN-Xs grabbed the Exia, carrying it into the air by its remaining limbs like an animal ready to be cut open and served for dinner. Hyuuma switched to the left's arms small built-in machine guns and shot at the GN-X grabbing his arm. The GN-X tightened its grip and crushed the vulcans, rendering them useless.

"Here you go, Boss!" Andrew tossed his lance over to Jun who caught threw away his weapons and caught the lance in mid-air. Its thrusters roaring, the Ahead charged at the Exia to skewer it in the chest orb.

"Hyuuma!" Yukari exclaimed.

"Game over!" Jun roared.

Hyuuma grimaced and closed his eyes.

Until an enormous beam came from above and bathed the Ahead in a beam of yellow plasma that traveled a 150 meters, vaporizing the suit outright and shocking all four pilots. Two smaller pink beams came and the the other suits had to drop the Exia to dodge them, the netted Gundam falling to the ground with a loud thud.

But, Hyuuma was too busy staring at the Gundam that had saved him. Painted in a silver color scheme with dark blue segments and eyes, the suit carried a long double-barreled rifle, a white and blue shield while a pair of silver wings sprouted from its backpack.

"The Wing Gundam?!" Andrew gasped.

"It doesn't matter, I'll skew-" Another large beam came and the GN-Xs dodged it, but the immense power of the shot made the units outer armor sizzle from even being near it, "Damn that Buster Rifle, we gotta close in!"

Who was that? Hyuuma thought, why did it help me?

"Hey, you in that Exia," an energetic voice called him through a sound-only transmission, "You still got an arm, right? Lend me a hand here please!"

"Who-?"

"We'll talk later over a bowl of ramen, my treat. But right now, let's help each other out!"

'Help', the word repeated in Hyuuma's head.

Looking at the Wing Gundam that was engaging the 2 GN-Xs, he had not heard the word 'help' from someone in a long time. But, why? Why did that person come and who was he? These questions, obviously, would be best saved for later. Sighing, Hyuuma tore his way out of the net and threw it away, "Alright, but you're answering any questions I have."

"No disagreements here!"

* * *

The Wing Gundam descended into the forest, flying backwards while firing large and small beams from its double-barreled Buster Rifle. Due to the GN-Xs high mobility, it was easy to dodge the more powerful bigger ones while counterattacking with the smaller beam machine guns they stored on their backpacks. But due to the Buster Rifle's immense power, it distracted them enough from the Exia that was trailing behind them.

When the Gundam got close to one of them, he shot out of the woods and tackled the GN-X farthest from the Wing, "Get him!"

The two suits distracted by the Exia's sudden return, the Buster Rifle spewed forth its immense power and destroyed the GN-X nearest to the Wing in an instant.

"Dammit!" the pilot slammed his fists on the table.

"Andrew!" Maxwell screamed and kicked the Exia away before taking out his beam saber and charged at the Wing, scoring a perfect shot on its Buster Rifle with his own sniper rifle, destroying it and gaining the upper hand, "I got the advantage up-close!"

Ejecting a beam saber from its shield compartment, the winged Gundam parried a few blows and continued flying back in a different direction, now at a disadvantage without proper range weaponry. Once Hyuuma regained his balance, he saw the Wing and GN-X heading in his direction.

"Stay down!" the Wing pilot said, "Once he gets close, dice him up!"

The Exia laid down on the ground, both engaging units slowly heading to him closer and closer. Grabbing a beam saber hilt from the back of his shoulder, Hyuuma had not felt this way nor done it in a long time. What was it again? Right, teamwork.

Once the GN-X was directly above him the Exia flew up and took a stab at the suit which was easily evaded, "Shit!" Hyuuma cursed.

No. He didn't fail. When the GN-X took its attention off the Wing onto the Exia, the Wing Gundam charged forward at full throttle and sliced off the hands of the red mobile suit, " Now!"

Holding the beam saber in a downwards direction, the Exia then did a horizontal slice and dug the saber into the GN-X's slim waist, not stopping until it was cut completely in two and exploded in an explosion of glowing red particles that floated away harmessly.

"**Battle Ended**."

The field disappeared, leaving the Exia and the Wing among a pile of broken model kits. Jun, shell-shocked, fell to his knees, muttering while his friends tried comforting him, "I.. I lost...?"

Yukari sighed in relief and Mr. Noa smiled.

After the virtual cockpits had cleared up, Hyuuma looked to his right and widened his eyes as he saw the pilot of the Wing Gundam that had saved him. Short, brown greasy hair, a green orb with flashing red eyes chirping at his feet and an apron tied around him with words that read 'Operation Meteor', the Wing pilot gave a sheepishly cheeky smile, "That was some great teamwork there!"


	3. Chapter 3: The Gunpla Chef

With the bright, blue holographic cockpits vanishing away, Hyuuma looked to his right and saw the pilot of the Wing Gundam on one of the edges of the Gunpla Battle Field with a green, spherical robot rolling around his feet. Greasy, brown hair and dirty hands that looked like they've been through plenty of battles, the Wing pilot wore a blue apron over the usual uniform of the Londenion with the words "Operation Meteor" plastered on it. The boy looked no older than Hyuuma and his shorter height gave more evidence on that.

Hyuuma turned to him, asking, "You're... You were the pilot?" he readjusted his glasses as his eyes shifted down to the boy who smiled and replied tongue-in-cheek with embarrassment.

"Hehe, I sure am!"

At his feet, the spherical robot jumped in front of Hyuuma with its small, red eyes flashing and its circular ear flaps flapping wildly. "Haro! Haro!" it chirped in a cheery, robotic voice, "What is your name? What is your name?" it asked Hyuuma who began to feel weirded out from talking to a toy robot.

"H-Hyuuma," he introduced himself out of the blue, "Aioi Hyuuma."

"Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!" it chirped again until its owner caught it in the air and held it over his head as Yukari and Mr. Noa walked up to them. The owner of the restaurant couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"Well, you two are getting along," Mr. Noa commented with a smile, "Made for a pretty good match, too. Good work there just now, Shiro. You, too, Hyuuma."

"Agreed! Agreed!"

"I haven't fought in a while, but that was fun!" the Wing pilot exclaimed cheerfully.

"Wait, Mr. Noa," Hyuuma cut in, pointing at the toy robot's owner, "You sent him here?" he asked and the restaurant owner nodded.

"I asked him for some help, even if you said you wanted to take on Jun and his friends, you didn't say someone couldn't interfere, did you?" Mr. Noa piqued and Hyuuma turned away, scratching the back of his head with one hand in his pocket. Mr. Noa then placed a hand on his worker's shoulder, introducing the young boy to Hyuuma, "Anyway, this is Naoya Shiro, a part-time chef of mine; That ball in his arms is Haro, but you should know its name by now."

"Haro! Haro!" the robot's circulars ears flaps opened and closed.

"Pleased to meet you," Shiro brought the Haro underneath one of his arms and extended a hand to Hyuuma who shook it with reluctance and a bit of noticable shyness. The boy never really got such a happy greeting in a while, much less, from a stranger.

"S-Same here. And thanks, for just now," Hyuuma stuttered, fixing his glasses as Shiro gave a wide smile.

"No problem!"

As Hyuuma thanked the boy, some of the surrounding Fighters and Builders in the bar room were directing their attention to Jun, who got up from the floor and over-dramatically cried out in anguish when he looked at the remains of his wrecked Gunpla, "M-My Ahead Smultron!" he gasped and held up the indescribable remains of his unit, "No! Goddamn it!" he cried like a child while his friends, Andrew and Maxwell, tried to calm him down to the best of their abilities.

Hyuuma looked away from the pitiful sight, thinking, _"If you didn't want it broken, then why are you playing this game in the first place?" _ and before he could speak to Shiro again, Haro hopped out of its owner's arm, onto the Gunpla Field and rolled across it to look down on Jun with sad 'eyes'.

"Are you sad? Are you sad?" it chirped in a sad tone as its owner caught up to it and stood in front of Jun, who was too busy sulking to notice him. Suddenly, Shiro took out a few wads of cash - which were enough to buy another kit - and placed on the table it in front of Jun, who gave him a confused look in response with his friends.

"W-What's this?" Jun asked and Shiro modestly replied.

"Well, I did sort of butt-into that match, so, here's something to make it up for that," he said and picked up his Haro, patting it softly, "Your Ahead Smultron was pretty cool, though. I noticed the modifications you made to the inner frame!"

"Donation! Donation!" Haro happily exclaimed.

"T-Thank you," Jun wiped his teary eyes with his sleeve, got up and shot an angry glare at Hyuuma, "You, I'm not forgetting this! Come on, boys, let's see if the hobby store is still open!"

Hyuuma, Mr. Noa, Yukari and Shiro watched with the other people in the bar room as the three promptly marched out of the area with their kit boxes in hand after giving sharp, respectful salutes to Mr. Noa. Jun shot another angry glare at Hyuuma before leaving, prompting the boy to look away and push his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose in response.

"They look pretty happy," Shiro commented.

"Yukari," Mr. Noa called to his other worker, "Do you mind doing the honors?"

"Of course, sir," she replied and cleared her throat. Yukari spun around and called out to the Builders and Fighters around them, clapping her hands to get their attention, "Alright, guys, show's over. Get on with your stuff and remember: The first person I see eating and/or drinking near the Battle Fields gets their asses thrown out of the restaurant!" she roared loudly and the other customers subsequently went on with their work. Yukari then spun around again to Shiro and Hyuuma, talking again in her usual chilled-out demeanor, "Well, anybody up for a drink?"

Shiro nudged Hyuuma, "I said I was gonna treat you to a bowl of ramen, right? Come on, I'll show you that I'm not the Londenion's part-time chef just for show!"

"S-Sure," he stuttered in his reply and looked back at the Gunpla table to pick up their kits. But after seeing the Exia model kit he used lying down on the table with severe damage, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty.

* * *

Back up at the busy dining section of the Londenion, Hyuuma and Yukari sat at a table near an open kitchen window where they could see Shiro doing all sorts of quick movements as he cooked with Haro rolling around the floor, sometimes getting a scolding from some of the workers for nearly tripping them when they walked. It was like a show, to be honest and it did provide a distraction for Hyuuma while Yukari was skillfully fixing up the damaged Exia with various tools on the table that looked alien to the boy.

"Since when were you interested in model kits?" Hyuuma spoke up, his chin kneeling on one arm with his glasses and headsets placed aside on the table.

Yukari inserted the Exia's repaired leg back into the waist unit, wiping away some sweat on her freckled cheek before answering, "When the restaurant isn't so busy with customers, I tended to go and kill some time in the Gunpla Battle Room. I picked up a few skills in modeling because it looked interesting, it's fun, too," she laid down the Exia's waist unit and went on to fix the arms, picking up some sandpaper from her side of the table, "So, what do you think of Gunpla Battle? Fun? Exciting?"

"Well..." Hyuuma tapped a finger on the table, a waitress passing by the table, "It's fun, I guess. But, I still don't get why someone would build something just to get it destroyed. That kind bothers me," he said, looking at the Exia in Yukari's hands, "I can't help but feel a bad for breaking that thing. You sure I shouldn't do something to payback Mr. Noa? He's always been on the look-out for me."

"Don't worry about it, plenty of guests come and borrow the displayed kits to try out Gunpla Battle every time. Even if they break them, the Builders and I are here to fix them up," she said, waving the broken arm in her fingers, "And about your problems with damaging a kit, I can't really say anything about that. I just build, but I can say that it's at least pretty damn cool to see something you've made come to life."

Hyuuma sighed, "I still have a hard time understanding that," he picked up his glasses and took a tissue to clean the lenses. It was a habit the tended to do sometimes. "By the way, you know anything about Shiro?" he tried changing the topic and gestured to the part-time chef who was practically dancing in the kitchen with his Haro causing destruction in its rolling path.

"Not much. I heard he's not from the city, so nobody really knows him. Still, he makes a good meal; his work in Gunpla is pretty good, too."

"Not from the city, huh?" Hyuuma said to himself, staring down on the table for what felt like minuts until he then felt Yukari nudge him on the shoulder. The boy turned to his left, and to his surprise, the Exia model he had used was now standing proudly on the table in perfect, shining condition with Yukari bearing a similarly-proud smile on her face.

"See? Doesn't matter how much of a beating it gets if I'm around," the red-head boasted.

Hyuuma put his glasses back on to see the clean and polished plastic of the Exia, "Wow, you really fixed it..." she was definitely right, taking a closer look at the minor details, Yukari not only fixed it, but it looked like there were some minor adjustments to it as well. Feeling a bit more better with the Exia now in perfect condition, Hyuuma smiled, scratching his black and blue hair, "I really missed out a lot when I left, huh?"

"Food's ready!" the attention of the two were directed to Shiro who suddenly came rushing through the doors to the kitchen with a tray of piping-hot ramen and his Haro trailing behind him. Rushing around the diner area with brisk speed, he served up all the ordered meals in his tray before setting the last two in front of Hyuuma. The part-time chef sat down beside him while Haro hopped onto the table, nearly crushing the Exia which made it get a small scolding from Yukari.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry! Sorry!"

Hyuuma looked at the steaming meal in front of him, feeling the hot vapor and steam on his face, he took up his chopsticks and slurped up a bit of noodle. His eyes widened slightly at the taste which sent chills down his spone, "W-Woah..."

"It's good, right?" Shiro smiled and Hyuuma nodded, unable to speak, "This is a personal recipe of mine, no one knows it but me and Haro!" he boasted before messily digging into his own bowl with reckless abandon, further staining the apron he wore with hot broth.

"Shiro has no manners! Shiro has no manners!" Haro exclaimed.

"Naoya," Yukari called him, "You mind doing me a favor?"

Shiro answered with a strand of noodle dangling from his mouth, "Sure."

"Show this guy around the Gunpla room for me, the Builders, Fighters and what-not," Yukari asked and patted Hyuuma on the back.

"Hatsune?" Hyuuma wasn't sure what was the request for all of a sudden.

"Although he may not seem like it, this guy here needs to find a new hobby," the red-head continued, putting her tools inside her breast pocket.

"Sure thing!" Shiro quickly replied and finished his meal, devouring all its contents and leaving nothing but an empty bowl with chopsticks and a spoon inside. Shiro promptly raised an arm and comically gave a sharp salute that could cut through even bulletproof glass, "If it's about Gunpla, then it'll be easy for me, Ensign Yukari."

"Thanks," Yukari stood up from her chair and stretched her arms while wincing, "Alright, I gotta get to work. This place gets busy every dinner time. See you guys around," she gave a small wave and walked away, leaving the two by themselves with Haro still rolling around on the table. Hyuuma watched her enter the kitchen with his chopsticks still in his mouth, until Shiro patted him on the back to get his attention.

"So, what's the first thing you wanna do?"

* * *

Down at the Gunpla Battle Section, Shiro spent half an hour showing Hyuuma around the place, from the hundreds of custom and out-of-the box builds displayed on the glass shelves, the busy Builders that were patching up broken kits like actual engineers in battle, some of the fighters that were battling with complete looks of joy on their faces and practically every nook and cranny the place had to offer. The general feel of the place began to become less and less bothersome to Hyuuma, but the atmosphere still had an alien feeling to him which he could not ignore completely.

Sitting at the bar in the far end of the room, Hyuuma and Shiro were having a few rounds of cola while in the background, they could still hear the sounds of loud battle-cries, the noises of explosions and the robotic voice of the tables' AI announcer deducing the winners of each battle. At their feet, Haro kept still underneath its master's seat, eyes flashing randomly every few seconds.

As it was already 7 PM, the two spent most of their time having small chat about the Londenion, Mr. Noa's command style with his workers and generally about each other like how long had Shiro been in the city since he moved here. It was a hard for Hyuuma, though, he wasn't much of a talker when it came to strangers and he preferred to be quiet stay quiet in places like these. But you could say he found Shiro easy to talk to since he'd follow up every single line with a good topic starter, leading to Shiro talking for most of the time while Hyuuma just nodded and replied with small sentences.

"So, what brought you to Gunpla Battle?" Shiro curiously asked with his feet kicking the air.

Sipping his drink, Hyuuma placed the can down with a sigh, replying, "You could say that I needed something to distract myself. Other than what Hatsune said just now,that's pretty much it. Heck, for most of the holiday, I haven't been really doing anything except being in my room," Hyuuma spoke, circling his finger around the canned drink on the table.

"I thought most kids these days would be doing something in their free time," Shiro picked up his Haro and playfully tossed him in the air repeatedly, "I'm not from here, so I don't know much about city life, but are you sure that you spent most of your time doing nothing?"

Hyuuma didn't really like talking about his past with people, excluding Yukari and Mr. Noa, of course, it was a topic he would usually turn away from ad ignore. But he didn't really feel anything against Shiro, so he didn't mind replying to some genuine curiosity, "Ever heard of a game called 'Crusade of Warriors'?" he asked and Shiro placed a finger on his chin, thinking if the name was familiar to him.

"Ummm... Errrr... it's an online-team game, right?" Shiro scratched his forehead, "I'm not really that into video games that much either, but I think there was a tournament for it a few months ago, or something?"

"Bingo," Hyuuma flicked a finger, "A World Tournament, to be precise. Crusade of Warriors was a game I tended - I mean - **always **played in my free time. I even managed to get into the World Tournament with a team of my own."

"Oh, so did you win?" Shiro poked his head closer to Hyuuma who stuttered for a moment at the question.

"Uhmm... No. My team wasn't... friendly, to say the least, so we ended up losing. Badly," he added with a frown and lied his down on the bar counter, nearly knocking his can away, "But, yeah, after that, I haven't been really doing anything else."

The brunette watched as Hyuuma quietly just sat in his chair with his head on the counter and the other customers at the bar still chatting lively around the duo with their drinks in hand. But before Shiro could speak up and break the proverbial ice, Hyuuma's cell phone rang a loud tune and the boy with black and blue hair stood up immediately, asking, "Mind if I answer this?"

Shiro nodded and Hyuuma walked over to the restrooms where it was quiet, opening the cell phone and answering the call which came from his mother.

"Hyuuma, where are you?"

"I'm still at the Londenion, I'll be back in a while," Hyuuma answered and leaned on the white, clean walls, "Probably around 8 or 9, if that's okay with you."

His mom sighed over the phone, "Fine. But be careful on the way back, I don't want your father wasting his energy sending another mugger to the hospital because you stayed up late."

Hyuuma sighed and his shoulders dropped, "Yes, Mom..."

* * *

Sitting alone at the bar counter and watching the battles that were taking place, Shiro held his Haro in his arms, continuously tossing it into the air while playfully kicking his feet in the air, "Hey, Haro, what do you think of Aioi?" he asked his robotic partner and stopped tossing it, "He doesn't look very happy, does he...?"

"Looks lonely! Looks lonely!" it replied, eyes flashing.

"You're right about that," Shiro agreed and held Haro tightly against his chest, leaning his chin on the big ball of metal, "You think we should do something? Hatsune was definitely not lying when she said he needed a new hobby, but he looks like he needs something more than that."

Haro suddenly rolled off his lap and onto the floor, spinning around and answering loudly, "Show him Gunpla! Show him Gunpla!"

Shiro then grabbed the toy robot, held it in the air and smiled, "That's a great idea! I know, maybe we should get him a Gunpla to get him interested!" he took out his wallet and placed Haro on the table. His sudden outburst got Shiro some unnoticed attention from the other customers who merely shook their heads and ignored him, "I should still have some leftover for one more-" a small moth promptly flew out of his opened wallet, with the owner of the robotic ball sweat-dropping.

He then remembered that he had left most of his cash at home, and that the one he gave earlier to that boy he fought were the only ones he brought along for today. Shiro chuckled nervously and looked to Haro, "... What now?"

"Shiro is an idiot! Shiro is an idiot!" Haro exclaimed with its circular ears flapping wildly.

The part-time chef scratched his chin, unsure of what to do now until a loud, obnoxious voice bellowed across the room, gaining the attention of everyone in the small vicinity. Standing at the stairwell with crossed arms, a few plastic bags in hand and two friends at his side, Sakamoto Jun, dressed in his A-Laws jacket, scanned the room until he found Shiro and quickly stomped over to him, asking in a serious tone, "You're Naoya Shiro, correct?"

Haro hopped over the bar counter and left Shiro to answer the tall boy's question without feeling any sort of intimidation at all, "Yes, can I help you?"

Jun fixed his collar and loudly cleared his throat, "As a 'thank-you' for giving me the money buy another High Grade, Naoya Shiro, I present to you this," he handed over one of the plastic bags like it was some sort of relic, "I managed to get some money after I bought my new HG, so I shall make sure this debt does not go unpaid nor unwelcomed."

Haro hopped back onto the counter, ears flapping, "Present! Present!"

"Gee, thanks!" Shiro took the somewhat-heavy plastic bag and smiled, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Sakamoto Jun," the A-Laws pilot clicked his tongue in reply and pointed to the floor, "Remember it, Wing pilot," Jun turned around and did a clean walk out of the room in an over-dramatic fashion which made some of the other customers stifle their laughter. As soon as he left, Hyuuma came back from his call and Shiro immediately called him over.


End file.
